Fertilizer-distributer.



W. W. BlRNSTOCK.

FERTlLlZER DISTRIBUTER, APPLICATION man JULY 10, 1915.

CDLUMBIA PLANMMH 60.,WA5HIHCITON, n. C.

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FERTILIZER-DISTBIBUTEB.

To all whom it w ng concern f Be it knownthat I, vim n w. Bran STOIKJK, of the city of York, in the county of York and State of Pennsylvania,have invented; certain new and useful Improvements in Fertilizer-Distributers, of which the following is a specification. s J

i The machine in which these improvements are embodied, whileadapted for service generally as a feltlll'liel .dlst llblltel,,hELS been designed moreparticularly "with! reference to its use as a lime spreader f The object of the invefntllonto obtain a,

simple, effective and inexpensive machine wliei tein thedfeed isess'entially a force feed, the parts of which are :so constructed and arranged that the limc'or fertilizer shall be delivered in uniform flow. and in acontinuous even unbroken sheet, whatever, may be shaft on which the agitator is mounted, a ,1

portion of the back of the hopper being in elevation. Fig. 2 is a cross section on line 22, rig. 1. Fig. '3 is a developed plan on enlarged scale of a portion of the bottom, showing the feed openings. Fig. dis a like plan of a portion of the bottom and the sliding gate associated therewith, showing the feed openings partly open, and illustrating how this is effected without varying the length of said openings.

In this machine, A is. the hopper, mounted on and carried by the axle B, which is secured to and revolves with the wheels C, and constitutes the driving shaft for the agitator, extending for this purpose through the hopper from end to end, and having mounted on it theagitator consisting of bars D, preferably heavy steel bars, extending lengthwise, an d practically the entire length, of the hopper, evenly spaced from and parallel with one another, and attached to and firmly supportedby suitable spiders E secured tightly on the driving shaft The I Specification of LettersPPatent. Application filed .nn 10, 1915,. Serial nasaoas.

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bottom of. the hopper is curved transversely of its length, as indicated at" A, in the arc ofa circle of which the driving shaft B is the axis. And the agitator barsD, as they revolve, sweep over this curved bottom a path concentric thereto and in close m imity therewith. 'i

In the curved bottom charge openings a. These I openings are rhoniboidal in shap.e, parallel with and evenly spaced from one another, and set with tlie'i ylonger axes,oblique tothe axis of the agitatorthe angle of obliquity to such axis being preferably 35 degrees or thereabout. These parallel, evenly? spaced,

oblique rhomboidal openings are set at. such distance apart that thetoe, or front end, of

A are formed disone will be approximately in 'a fore and aft 1 line with, or will even slightlyoverhang, the

heel, or rear end, of the next adjoining open ing, in order to assist in delivering the ma{ ter al man unbroken sheet.

A gat Fo'f curved contour to match the hopper bottom A, and having rhoniboidal openings 6, similarin size, shape and inclination. to the openings a, ia nd registering therewith, is mounted in suitable bearings f on the exterior of the bottom A in which it can slide lengthwise of the hopper, to vary the dimensions of the feed openings. A latched operating lever 1 of any suit-able kind is used to effect this adjustment of the gate and to lockit in its adjusted position. It will be noted that this adjustment affects only the width of the feed opening, its length remaining always and invariably the same whatever may be the variation in its width, so long as it is open at all.

The heavy steel agitator bars D which sweep overand in close proximity to the bottom A, and from end to end of the openings a: therein, exercise in connection with, the inclined longer edges of these openings a shearing action which reduces and crumbles the lumpy portions of the material in the hopper into proper comminuted condition and insures a positive feed. through each opening from end to end thereof. The distance between the agitator bars D does not materially exceed the distance in a right line traveled by a bar traversing the entire length of an inclined opening a, so that by the time the bar in advance is about to pass beyond reached the openings; and, as hereinbefore pointed out, inasmuch ass-the length .ofthe' feed emn s never varies whatever mav be their width, there is a continuous force feed action on the part of the bars, which insures at all times thedelivery of-the lime or'other fertilizer in volume which will vary with the variation in width of the feed openings butalwaysin the form of a continuous,

'even, unbroken sheet from' end to'end of the hopper,

The scattering 'board usually employed in machines "of this 'kind, may be employed 7 e here also if desiredj I do not represent it howeverin thedrawings, as it forms no part of my'1nvent1on.

I am aware that it ls'noftinew, broadly considered to provide the hopper of a fertilizer distributer with'oblong'feed openings in its bottom, the longer axes of which are oblique to the axis of rotation'of the agita tor shaft, andflthisIdo not claim; but in all such instances ofwhich I have knowledge the bottom in which theseopenings are made C'opis of this patent may be" obtained for is flat, so thatthe path in which the agitator moves is merely vtangential to 'the bottom' and the openings thereinyandthe openings themselves are so formed and combined with p the sliding gate for regulating their size, thatthe length of the feed opening varies directly with its width-both of which fea-' tures are fatal to the continuous force feed delivery in unbroken even sheet form, notwithstanding variation in the volume de'-- livered, which is the end aimed at and attained by'myimprovement, i

I donot confi e "myself strictly to the corresponding structural details her einbetore shown and described in illustration of my invention; [for manifestly they oanbe varied in some particulars without departure from the invention, but 1 e iWhat I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is 1 I 1 In a fertilizer distributer, a hopper extending crosswise of a machine and having a bottom curved transversely of its length;

an agitator extending lengthwise of" the. e

hopper and mounted therein to revolveupon I an axis coincident with the axis from which the curve of the hopper bottom is struck, and, having evenly spaced longitudinalpe- 'ripheral members which" sweep over the curved hopper bottomin' a path in close r proximity thereto and concentric therewith; rhomboidal feed openings in the curve'dhop per bottom with their longer axes oblique to the axis of revolution of the. agitator, parallel with andevenly spaced from one another, and of such'lengththat by thetime one of the longitudinal peripheral agitator members,-i'n its sweeping movement overthe curvedvho-pper bottomyhaspassed beyond the feed openings therein, the following member will'have reached said ii'eedopenings;-and a sliding gate curved to match 7 said curved hopper bottom and formed'with set rhomboidal five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of .Iatents. Washington, D. C. i 1 

